Australian PLB

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smithy

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I'm in NZ on holiday and was looking at PLB's over here. They are selling Australian made units with a 10 year battery life that are also quite a bit cheaper. Down side is I'm not sure if they can be used in UK. Have emailed the manufacturers, pending that anyone using them or can shed any light?
http://kti.com.au/safety-alert-plb/
 
I am a kiwi which you may have guessed.
I bought an ACR resculink PLB from an Australian company as it was about 40% cheaper than the same unit in NZ. The knowledgeable and helpful gentleman who owned the company explained it thus:
- The signal from an epirb or PLB includes a country of registration code, so in the event that the device is activated, the signal is sent from the satellites to the appropriate rescue centre. (The planet is divided up into areas of responsibility for SAR)
- The devices are hard coded with the country code, so the Australian business received ACR units that were coded to Australia. The KTI units are, I believe locally made and can be coded to suit customer needs.
- Therefore i had to register my PLB with Australia.
- When any PLB /Epirb signal is activated, the country of origin is notified, but if the location is elsewhere then they immediately pass the alert on to the authority for that area.

So I am trusting my life to someone in Australian SAR being bothered enough to alert NZ. Just have to hope the individual in question is not a rugby fan!

Likewise if you have a UK coded unit, but happen to have an emergency and set off your beacon elsewhere on the planet, then the UK authorities will pass the details to the appropriate authority. I am told, on these fora, that in some SAR areas, you will be left to your own devices anyway, but mostly the system works.

Hope this helps.
 
John the kiwi said:
I am a kiwi which you may have guessed.
I bought an ACR resculink PLB from an Australian company as it was about 40% cheaper than the same unit in NZ. The knowledgeable and helpful gentleman who owned the company explained it thus:
- The signal from an epirb or PLB includes a country of registration code, so in the event that the device is activated, the signal is sent from the satellites to the appropriate rescue centre. (The planet is divided up into areas of responsibility for SAR)
- The devices are hard coded with the country code, so the Australian business received ACR units that were coded to Australia. The KTI units are, I believe locally made and can be coded to suit customer needs.
- Therefore i had to register my PLB with Australia.
- When any PLB /Epirb signal is activated, the country of origin is notified, but if the location is elsewhere then they immediately pass the alert on to the authority for that area.

So I am trusting my life to someone in Australian SAR being bothered enough to alert NZ. Just have to hope the individual in question is not a rugby fan!

Likewise if you have a UK coded unit, but happen to have an emergency and set off your beacon elsewhere on the planet, then the UK authorities will pass the details to the appropriate authority. I am told, on these fora, that in some SAR areas, you will be left to your own devices anyway, but mostly the system works.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, that clarifies things. Will post when the manufacturer gets back to me and I'll see if it can be recoded. Ive seen them for as little as £130 although that would plus postage.
 
It’s a while ago and my recolllection is hazy but I’m fairly sure the EPIRB I purchased new in Florida with a USA country identifier, for a Transat, had the country code identifier altered to the UK by Ocean Safety in Southampton on succesful completion of the passage at my request. I recall they also serviced my liferaft at the same time and added £30 or so onto the bill for the recoding thingy - so it must be possible.

Apropos of nothing, on another occasion, I was making ready for a passage from Portimao back to Hamble, I tested my EPIRB but inadvertantly activated it for all of a minute (at most). Within half an hour my wife called me to check I was ok (nice of her to be concerned) because she’d been contacted by Falmouth to inform her my EPIRB had been activated and they wanted confirmation the position the EPIRB had broadcast was potentially valid. I was very embarrassed but equally very impressed.
 
Some years ago I purchased a EPIRB in the UK for use in South Africa and the supplier programed the country to South Africa before delivering it to me in the UK.

So your supplier should be able to do the same for you
 
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